The morality of darknet markets is not an interesting debate to me. However, the fact ZEC is secure and sought out by people who want their purchases to remain private adds value to the coin from an investment perspective. This value will only deepen as darknet markets continue to grow. The Zcash dev team also recently published technical improvements they claim will reduce the memory consumption of transaction privacy by 98%.the Coinbase blog also recently mentioned Zcash as having great potential.

While it is too early to remark on the Monero contract in great detail - as I just purchased it, I am very satisfied with my early experience with Genesis Mining. My questions were addressed with informative and thoughtful responses. The user experience is intuitive. I have already recommended Genesis Mining to friends and family members. Moreover, I have upped my investment as I feel that I am working with a team that values integrity.

Ethereum mining is best done by joining a mining pool so that there is a steady stream of Ether's into your wallet and in this guide we will show you a step by step process to do just this. In our "How to Mine Ethereum on a Windows PC" we showed you how to install all the software to get your computer mining with its graphics card and failing that, with its CPU.

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts argue that altcoins are completely unnecessary and will not succeed because they cannot rival the infrastructure Bitcoin boasts. However, altcoins serve an important role. Decentralization is one of Bitcoin’s most prominent goals, and altcoins further decentralize the cryptocurrency community. Moreover, altcoins allow developers to experiment with unique features. While it is true that Bitcoin can copy these features if the developers or community desires, fully-functioning altcoins are much better “cryptocurrency laboratories” than Bitcoin’s testnet. Finally, Altcoins give Bitcoin healthy competition. Altcoins give cryptocurrency users alternative options and forces Bitcoin’s developers to remain active and continue innovating. If users do not feel that Bitcoin satisfies their digital desires, they can adopt an altcoin. If enough users left Bitcoin for a particular altcoin, the Bitcoin developers would have to adopt the features the community desired or risk losing its place as the preeminent cryptocurrency.
If these cryptocurrencies do have a healthy number of companies producing ASICs and have avoided centralization, they still are using algorithms that take longer to verify than SHA2. Therefore, at best a cryptocurrencies with merely a hashing algorithm change are as good as an exact clone of Bitcoin and not better (however since Bitcoin already exists, an exact clone of Bitcoin has no innovation or value). If the hashing algorithm is slower, as most altcoin algorithms are, it is a disadvantage because it takes more processing time to validate a block and increases the number of organic re-orgs (makes it easier to double spend).
While we think that Ethereum may turn to POS in the coming future, we have a fantastic future to mine it at a profit with Genesis Mining. If it DOES go to POS instead of mining, then we can move to a variety of alt coins that are nearly as profitable and every bit as much fun. Give Genesis Mining a go and see why it is better than buying coins directly.
Even if they do not accurately understand how it works, most people are at least somewhat familiar with Bitcoin. However, once they begin to get involved with cryptocurrency, they may be surprised to learn that there are actually hundreds of types of cryptocurrencies known as altcoins. Altcoins are an intriguing facet of the cryptocurrency landscape, but they are not for everyone. Altcoin newcomers often have many questions, and this guide will provide a brief overview of altcoins to help beginners decide whether or not to invest in them as part of their cryptocurrency portfolio.
Zcash, like Monero, offers greater privacy to users. Unlike Monero, transactions are shielded rather than made completely private. Meaning, the details of the transaction itself, such as the users involved and the amount traded, are hidden. Zcash does this by using a “zero-knowledge” proof that allows for parties to exchange funds without revealing each other’s identity.
Because it's similar to gold mining in that the bitcoins exist in the protocol's design (just as the gold exists underground), but they haven't been brought out into the light yet (just as the gold hasn't yet been dug up). The bitcoin protocol stipulates that 21 million bitcoins will exist at some point. What "miners" do is bring them out into the light, a few at a time.
At the time when this guide was written, January 2014, the price of one bitcoin stood at $913, down slightly after reaching an all-time high of over $1,200 earlier in December. The new cryptocurrency came a long way from trading below $4 just two years ago. Major online and offline retailers are starting to add the new currency as a payment method. But what exactly is bitcoin?